The U.S. Department of State recently published their final visa usage statistics for FY2010. A total of 1,885 EB-5 visas were issued, with the following countries making up the Top 10:
- People’s Republic of China (772 or 40.9%)
- Republic of South Korea (295 or 15.6%)
- Great Britain/Northern Ireland (135 or 7.1%)
- Taiwan (94 or 5.0%)
- India (62 or 3.3%)
- Iran (55 or 2.9%)
- Mexico (50 or 2.6%)
- Canada (45 or 2.4%)
- Russia (41 or 2.2%)
- South Africa (34 or 1.8%)
Combined they make up 1,583 of the 1,885, or about 84.0%, EB-5 visas issued. For comparison sake, in FY2009 – when 4,218 EB-5 visas were issued – the above countries yielded the following visa issuance statistics:
- People’s Republic of China (1,979 or 46.9%)
- Republic of South Korea (903 or 21.4%)
- Great Britain/Northern Ireland (324 or 7.7%)
- Taiwan (170 or 4.0%)
- India (72 or 1.7%)
- Iran (12 or 0.2%)
- Mexico (33 or 0.7%)
- Canada (85 or 2.0%)
- Russia (60 or 1.4%)
- South Africa (31 or 0.7%)
The Top 10 for FY2009 was as follows:
- People’s Republic of China (1,979 or 46.9%)
- Republic of South Korea (903 or 21.4%)
- Great Britain/Northern Ireland (324 or 7.7%)
- Taiwan (170 or 4.0%)
- Canada (85 or 2.0%)
- Japan (84 or 2.0%)
- India (72 or 1.7%)
- Russia (60 or 1.4%)
- Netherlands (38 or 0.9%)
- Mexico (33 or 0.7%)
There are a couple of observations of note here. Japan and the Netherlands dropped out of the Top 10 between the two years, replaced by Iran and South Africa. While the Netherlands maintained a steady pace between the two years, falling only to 32 in FY2010, Japan fell from 84 in FY2009 to only 6 in FY2010. Mexico visa issuance was up, as successful entrepreneurs moved away from the unstable political situation there. Lastly, the Top 4 remained in the same spots between the two years.
One other major difference in numbers probably jumps out at you: there was a 55% drop in total EB-5 visa issuance between the two years. I addressed this briefly in my January 20 blog entry (“President Obama’s Executive Order: An Example for Congress to Follow”) – showing that the drop reflected a valid USCIS policy to expedite EB-5 visa applications leading up to the last time the Program was due to “sunset” in 2009. The number of I-526 petitions (which, if approved, allows EB-5 investors to apply for their conditional green card) filed over the same two years increased 90%. Clearly, interest in the EB-5 Program has actually grown since it was extended for three years in September 2009. The U.S. economy has benefited greatly as a result.
